According to Corriere dello Sport, Manchester United boss Jose Mourinho is preparing a January swoop for unsettled Inter Milan attacker Joao Mario.

What’s the story?

Mario only joined Inter from Sporting Lisbon in the summer of 2016, but the midfielder is already believed to be unsettled at the San Siro.

The 24-year-old, who is valued at £27m by transfermarkt.co.uk, has registered five assists in Serie A this season, but has only started four times in Italy’s top flight, which is believed to have led to discontent.

According to Corriere dello Sport, United boss Mourinho is a keen admirer of his fellow Portuguese, and is prepared to offer Juan Mata in exchange next month.

Mata will be out of contract at Old Trafford next summer, and the Spaniard’s future is far from certain as he struggles to hold down a regular spot in Mourinho’s first XI.

The same report, however, claims that Inter would prefer to sign Henrikh Mkhitaryan in any potential swap deal that could occur when the winter window opens for business.

Would Mario be a good signing for United?

Whilst Mourinho has previously been keen to have specialist players in certain positions, the United boss has become a fan of versatile operators over the last couple of seasons.

Indeed, Ashley Young is one of the United manager’s most trusted players, and the Englishman is able to operate in a number of different positions.

The same can be said for Mario, who is capable of playing as one of the wide men in a 4-3-3 or 4-4-2 formation, in addition to being able to operate in a central position.

United were strongly linked with Mario’s teammate Ivan Perisic during the summer, but it does appear that deal is dead in the water due to Inter’s unwillingness to sell.

Mario, who is a 31-time Portugal international, is only 24 years of age, and could well turn out to be a very smart addition for the Red Devils at the start of 2018.

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